I Don't Know What To Title This
by Aria Taylor
Summary: "So, why aren't you in class?" she asked, her mouth half-full. Percy grinned and wiped a crumb off the corner of her mouth. "Because my girlfriend sent me an urgent text saying, and I quote, 'I am dying,' and honestly, she comes before classes. Priorities." OR, Annabeth has the flu and Percy thinks any problem can be solved with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.


**Well, I wrote this a while ago when I was going through some writer's block for my other story. I edited it bit then decided to post it because I thought it was cute. Hope ya'll enjoy it.**

**This is set a few years after HoO. Percy and Annabeth are both in college in New Rome.**

**Disclaimer: All PJO characters belong to Rick Riordan. **

I Don't Know What To Title This

Annabeth

_"You are the finest, loveliest, tenderest, and most beautiful person I have ever known-and even that is an understatement."_

_(F. Scott Fitzgerald)_

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Annabeth had been through more than the average twenty-one-year-old. She had run away when she was seven and successfully found her way halfway across the country to a camp for demigods. She had been to the Underworld and survived, she had traveled through the Sea of Monsters, held up the sky, navigated the Labyrinth, fought against the Titan Lord Kronos, faced Arachne, and fallen into Tartarus (and _survived_). She had killed quite possibly every single Greek monster in existence. She had been through nightmares unimaginable and many people at camp didn't know whether to be impressed by her feats or fear her.

But never in her twenty-one years of life had she ever experienced something as awful as the flu.

Her entire body ached. The last time she had hurt this badly was when she had returned from Tartarus. She was freezing cold and the shivers that racked her body just made her hurt more. She had buried herself in every blanket in her dorm room, yet all of those covers couldn't keep out the cold. Her eyes were heavy, yet everytime she closed them, the nightmares would attack. She didn't understand why. Sure, she'd been having nightmares every once in a while since the Giant War. But did they really have to plague her when she was sick?

Her roommate, Janet, had tried to skip her classes that day so she could stay behind and take care of Annabeth. Annabeth had assured her that she would be fine and there was no need to skip class. This was their senior year of college. She couldn't afford to miss.

Now, two hours later, Annabeth layed in her bed, her head buried in her pillows, moaning at the absolute pain and horror and irony of her situation. After everything she had been through, she couldn't believe that it was the _flu _that would be her downfall.

She heard a knock on her door. Groaning, Annabeth called out weakly, "Come in."

The door was opened and in trotted the one and only Percy Jackson with a bright smile on his face and a cup of Annabeth's favorite hot chocolate in his hand. His backpack was on his back, so Annabeth assumed he must be visiting her between classes. Seeing Annabeth's huddled form on the bed, he scrunched his eyebrows together and walked over to her bedside. She, on the other hand, made no effort to get up. She moved her face out of the pillows and looked at him.

"Hey," he said brightly, crouching down so he was eye-level with her. "How're you doing?"

"I feel like death," she said firmly, ignoring Percy's chuckle and eye roll. "You shouldn't be here, you know. I'm probably contagious."

"Did the doctor say that?"

Annabeth bit her lip to keep from smiling. "Well, no, but-"

Percy grinned. "Then I think I'm okay. Besides, I brought your favorite hot chocolate."

This time, Annabeth let herself smile. She pushed herself up to a sitting position and, keeping the blankets wrapped around her, took the hot drink from his hand. He invited himself onto the bed, taking a seat next to her and pulling his backpack up there too. He unzipped it and pulled out a bag with the cafe's logo on it and took out a chocolate muffin. Tearing it in half, he handed her a piece and said, "Here. Breakfast."

She was too hungry to refuse. She hadn't eaten the previous day, due to the sudden onslaught of sickness. She had been too tired and achy to feed herself. She was too tired and achy today, so Percy bringing her food was kind of a miracle in itself. She grabbed the muffin and began eating. "So, why aren't you in class?" she asked, her mouth half-full.

Percy grinned and wiped a crumb off the corner of her mouth. "Because my girlfriend sent me an urgent text saying, and I quote, 'I am dying,' and honestly, she comes before classes. Priorities."

Annabeth blushed, but didn't reply. A pounding headache came out of nowhere and she groaned and slowly lowered herself back to her pillows. She felt Percy's hand clamp onto her foot, buried beneath the blankets, and he squeezed it reassuringly. "You alright?" he asked, mouth full of muffin.

"Ibuprofen," she muttered, pointing a limp, shaking finger at the bottle of pills on her dresser. Thankfully, Percy understood. He hopped off the bed, grabbed the bottle, and came back to her with three pills in his palm. Annabeth held out her hand for them and popped them in three seconds flat, washing it down with a sip of hot chocolate.

Percy jumped back up on the bed. Annabeth immediately placed her feet in his lap. "So, what do you want to do?" he asked her, rearranging the blankets so that they would completely cover her curled up toes. "I brought my laptop and some movies."

Annabeth rolled onto her back and looked at him. "A movie sounds nice," she decided.

Percy grinned and pulled his laptop and three DVDs out of the backpack that she had originally thought he had for classes. Displaying them to her, Annabeth saw that he had brought three of her favorites: The Notebook, The Fault In Our Stars, and The Breakfast Club. Annabeth was also amused to find that Percy had included one of his personal favorites: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. She would have laughed, but she couldn't find the energy to.

"Which one?" he asked, grinning his cheeky, trouble-maker grin.

Annabeth shrugged. "You can choose."

He chose Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Annabeth shivered violently just as Percy pressed play on the screen. He shot her a worried look. "Cold?" he asked and eyed the five blankets piled on top of her. Annabeth nodded. He wriggled his eyebrows seductively and continued, "You want to cuddle?"

Annabeth pulled the blankets tighter around her body. "I don't want to get you sick, Percy."

He made a weird noise that was a strange mix between a snort and a groan. "I'm half god, Annabeth. I think I can fight off the flu."

"I'm half god too," Annabeth muttered, but just as she was about to say them louder, the words died on her lips because Percy pushed her over to the wall and laid down next to her and suddenly his arms were around her and she was curled against his chest and, well, he _was _pretty warm. She didn't have it in her to argue with him.

The movie played and Annabeth had to fight to keep her eyes open. Percy was doing a great job keeping her warm and she was so tired. Maybe if she fell asleep while Percy was holding her, then she wouldn't have any nightmares. Halfway through the movie, she gave in, turning her face from the laptop screen to the crook of Percy's neck and closed her eyes. His hand trailed from her shoulder down to her waist and she shivered. This time, it wasn't from the cold.

Apparently, her idea of it being easier to fall asleep with Percy there was a total lie because five minutes later, she sighed and turned her eyes to the laptop screen again. Percy sensed her discomfort and squeezed her hip.

"Can't sleep?" he asked.

"Not a wink," Annabeth said miserably. "And I'm so exhausted."

Percy chuckled and kissed her temple. "I'm sorry," he apologized. Annabeth just shrugged and fisted his shirt with her hands, snuggling back up to him. "Thank you for coming," she said quietly. "I would have been miserable without you. I mean, I still am miserable. Just less miserable."

Percy laughed. "Well, I'm glad I could help make you feel less miserable."

"Shut up," she said, but it lacked it's usual edge.

Percy laughed again and rubbed his thumb over her hip reassuringly. "I love you," he murmured and Annabeth's lips pulled up in a smile. It had been years since he first said that to her, and yet it still made her insides melt every time she heard it. Everything about him, really, still made her melt.

"I love you too," she replied, tightening her grip on his shirt.

Percy was silent for a moment before saying, "Enough to marry me?"

Maybe it was the sickness that clouded her mind and senses. Maybe she was just really dense. But in reply to his question, she snorted, "What kind of question is that?"

Percy sat up slowly, much to Annabeth's disappointment and slight annoyance. She reached for him, then curled up into a tight ball to preserve the little body heat she had left. "What are you doing?"

He gazed at her without saying a word, and she peeked up at him. There was something in his gaze that she couldn't quite put her finger on. Heat? Passion? Whatever it was, it was burning bright and hot in his eyes. Annabeth grew nervous all of a sudden.

"Percy?" she said quietly. "Are you okay?"

In response, he pulled a ring out of the pocket of his jeans.

Annabeth stared, dumbfounded. The ring was beautiful. For some reason, whenever she had pictured Percy proposing, she had pictured the ring to be something unique, something that would represent the two of them. Maybe a single pearl or a an engraving on the band. But this ring was silver, with a single diamond on it. And she found herself loving it a lot more than any of the other rings she had pictured, because in a way, it _did_ represent them: something normal in the midst of a crazy world.

"I've been waiting to do this for a long time, Annabeth," Percy was saying, "but every time I meant to do it, I chickened out. And every time I chickened out I got so mad at myself because I just want to fricking marry you. So, will you marry me?"

Annabeth switched her gaze from the ring to Percy's face. He was biting his lip and his cheeks were red and his hair was messed up and he was so beautiful right then that Annabeth couldn't handle it. She glanced at the ring again, then back up to him and the first words that slipped out of her mouth were, "I can't believe you proposed in the middle of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles while I'm sick with the flu."

Percy laughed and when he looked back at her, his eyes were shining. "So, is that a yes?" he asked, voice hopeful.

Annabeth smiled. "Of course it's a yes, you idiot."

"Good." Percy slipped the ring on her finger, then leaned forward, placing his forearms on either side of her head so her could hover above her. Annabeth placed her hands on his cheeks and rubbed her thumbs over his cheekbones. "So," Percy said, grinning cheekily, "are you thinking a spring, summer, or fall wedding?"

Annabeth giggled and pulled Percy's face down to hers, pressing theirs foreheads together. "I don't care," she said. "Right now, I just really want to kiss you."

"The feeling is mutual," Percy teased. Then he kissed her deeply, despite the fact that she had a terrible case of the flu. And for once, Annabeth threw sense to the wind and kissed him back just as hard.

They pulled apart, breathing hard. "But seriously, though," Percy said, panting, "we really need to figure out all this wedding stuff."

Annabeth groaned and playfully pushed him away from her. "Do we have to now, Percy? I'm sick. I'm tired. I ache all over. All I really want to do is sleep. Can we just take a nap?"

Percy gave her a smile he liked to call his Annabeth smile and moved back to his spot next to her. He crawled underneath the blankets and Annabeth molded her body to his. He was so warm and she was still so cold. She rested her head in the crook of his neck and while Percy watched the rest of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (of course, after rewinding to the part he had been on before the proposal; he couldn't afford to miss a scene) she stared at the ring on her left hand. She couldn't believe she was actually going to marry this boy, who she had been in love with since she was twelve. She couldn't believe that after everything, they had beat the odds and were going to be able to settle down together with nothing in there way.

In reality, though, danger and adventure always seemed to find them, but at the moment, Annabeth didn't care. She was willing to do anything, as long as she had Percy Jackson by her side. Smiling, she closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep, dreaming of diamond rings and white dresses and most of all, a boy with beautiful green eyes who was finally, wholeheartedly, hers.


End file.
